Michael Gene Hodges Jr., a 29-year-old Black man, was fatally shot inside his Volkswagen Jetta on October 12, 2023, in the 2000 block of Wiley Boulevard Southwest in Cedar Rapids. Police found him around 5:09 p.m. with five gunshot wounds to his hip, torso, neck, and arm. The shooting ended his life abruptly and violently.

Investigators identified a suspect the next day when 28-year-old Darnell Rashaun Bays turned himself in. Surveillance footage reportedly shows someone exiting an SUV, entering Hodges’ car where the shooting occurred, then returning to the SUV. Bays initially admitted to being in Hodges’ car and shooting him, though his statements about whether he intended to buy or deliver marijuana differed. He was charged with first-degree murder, intimidation with a dangerous weapon, going armed with intent, and being a felon in possession of a firearm; he was already facing an unrelated January charge for assault with intent to commit sexual abuse.

Hodges had survived a previous shooting incident in 2018 that led to an attempted murder charge later dropped on self-defense grounds. He had been released from federal prison earlier in 2023 after serving a three-year sentence for being a drug user in possession of a firearm and was on supervised release when he was killed.

If anyone saw activity around Wiley Boulevard Southwest on October 12, or has information about Hodges’ movements that evening, please share what is known.